DREAMS FROM MY FATHER VOCAB

Barack Obama: Dreams From My Father Vocabulary Words

chapter 1

1) Gaunt (adj): extremely thin and bony

2) Pali (n): (in Hawaii) a steep slope or cliff

3) Bequeathed (v): to hand down; pass on

4) Miscegenation (n): interbreeding between members of different races

5) Sinewy (adj): of or like sinews; tough, firm, braided, or resilient

6) Octoroon (n): a person having one-eighth black ancestry; the offspring of a quadroon and a white

7) Mirthless (adj): devoid of gladness

8) Puffery (n): exaggerated phrase


chapter 2

1) Jitneys (n): a small bus or car following a regular route along which it picks up and discharges passengers, originally charging each passenger five cents

2) Wiry (adj): in the form of wire

3) Petered (v): To become exhausted

4) Animist (n): the belief that natural objects, natural phenomena, and the universe itself possess souls

5) Demagogue (n): a person, esp. an orator or political leader, who gains power and popularity by arousing the emotions, passions, and prejudices of the people

6) Dysentery (n): diarrhea

7) Rebuff (n): a blunt or abrupt rejection, as of a person making advances


Chapter 3

1) Hoarding: a temporary board fence put about a building being erected or repaired —called also hoard

2) Menacing: to make a show of intention to harm

3) Convergence: the merging of distinct technologies, industries, or devices into a unified whole

4) Reprimand: a severe or formal reproof

5) Cannibalism: the usually ritualistic eating of human flesh by a human being

6) Unearthed: to dig up out of or as if out of the earth





Chapter 5 &6

1)Warbling: to sing in a trilling manner or with many turns and variations

2) Moralism: an often exaggerated emphasis on morality

3) Incurable: not likely to be changed or corrected

4) Cesspool: an underground reservoir for liquid waste (as household sewage)

5) Paramilitary: relating to, being, or characteristic of a force formed on a military pattern

6) Servitude: a condition in which one lacks liberty especially to determine one's course of action or way of life

7) Waffling: to talk or write foolishly

8) Eloquent: marked by forceful and fluent expression

9) Homilies: a usually short sermon

10) Expedient: suitable for achieving a particular end in a given circumstance

11) Unanchored: not having a firm basis or foundation

12) Reefer: one that reefs

13) Bile: inclination to anger

14) Tenements: a house used as a dwelling

15) Monsoons: rainfall that is associated with the monsoon

16) Guileless: innocent




Chapter 7

1) Intermittently: coming and going at intervals : not continuous

2) Debris: the remains of something broken down or destroyed

3) Trodden: to walk or proceed along

4) Perpetual: continuing forever


5) Promenade: to walk about in or on

6) Moorings: an act of making fast a boat or aircraft with lines or anchors

7) Grizzled: sprinkled or streaked with gray

8) Hemorrhage: a copious discharge of blood from the blood vessels

9) Indeterminate: having an infinite number of solution

10) Boisterous: marked by or expressive of exuberance and high spirits

11) Bespoke: dealing in or producing custom-made articles

12) Alderman: a person governing a kingdom, district, or shire as viceroy for an Anglo-Saxon king

13) Archdiocese: the diocese of an archbishop

14) Desolation: barren wasteland




Chapter 8

1) Solemn: marked by the invocation of a religious sanction

2) Sustain: to give support or relief to

3) Subcompact: an automobile smaller than a compact

4) Leaflet: one of the divisions of a compound leaf

5) Betel nut: the astringent seed of the betel palm

6) Obsolete: no longer in use or no longer useful

7) Elongated: to extend the length of



Chapter 9

1) Botched: to put together in a makeshift way

2) Assortment: a collection of assorted things or persons

3) Pry: to look closely or inquisitively ; also : to make a nosy or presumptuous inquiry

4) Patronage: the support or influence of a patron

5) Merited: to be worthy of or entitled or liable to

6) Bungalows: a one-storied house with a low-pitched roof ; also : a house having one and a half stories and usually a front porch

7) Solicitude: the state of being concerned and anxious





Chapter 10

1) Sporadic: occurring occasionally, singly, or in irregular or random instances

2) Renovating: to restore to a former better state

3) Immediacy: the quality or state of being immediate

4) Luminous: emitting or reflecting usually steady, suffused, or glowing light

5) Exasperated: to cause irritation or annoyance to

6) Catchall: something that holds or includes odds and ends or a wide variety of things

7) Inculcate: to teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions

8) Regress: an act or the privilege of going or coming back

9) Pestilence: something that is destructive or pernicious

10) Afoot: on foot

11) Hobbesian: of or relating to the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes or Hobbism

12) Quarrels: a square-headed bolt or arrow especially for a crossbow

13) Corporeal: having, consisting of, or relating to a physical material body

14) Eroded: to diminish or destroy by degrees

15) Legerdemain: a display of skill or adroitness

16) Indissoluble: incapable of being annulled, undone, or broken

17) Delusion: the act of deluding : the state of being deluded

18) Waning: to fall gradually from power, prosperity, or influence





Chapter 11

1) Exuberant: joyously unrestrained and enthusiastic

2) Gutted: to extract all the essential passages or portions from

3) Puzzlement: puzzled

4) Voluminous: consisting of many folds, coils, or convolutions

5) Industrialists: one owning or engaged in the management of an industry : manufacturer

6) Redistributed: to spread to other areas

7) Apprehensive: viewing the future with anxiety or alarm

8) Filch: to appropriate furtively or casually

9) Emulate: to strive to equal or excel

10) Giddy: lightheartedly silly

11) Succumbing: to be brought to an end (as death) by the effect of destructive or disruptive forces

12) Vigor: active bodily or mental strength or force




Chapter 12

1) Heeler: one that heels

2) Coup: a brilliant, sudden, and usually highly successful stroke or act

3) Wading: to pass or cross by wading

4) Phalanx: a body of troops in close array

5) Jockeyed: to deal shrewdly or fraudulently with